The Money Diet
May 1, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under finances, financial matters, frugal living
Guest post by Heidi.
Cutting back on expenses is just like cutting back on favorite foods to lose weight: the pain is intense in the beginning, but I promise you – it’s short-lived.
We started curtailing our spending a year ago. At first, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to live with the lifestyle changes . . . but I quickly learned that when you remove excess from your life, only good things will follow.
How do you start a money diet?
Like a food diet, hit the big items first. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to see smaller expenditures in your budget that can be cut out, too.
Here’s a list of the top 10 items that we cut out, in chronological order. You can probably go through the same exercise … You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can stash away cash you never knew you had!
1. Cut: A Yearly Disney World vacation. Cost: $3,000.
Substitution: More short trips to visit extended out-of-state family. Disney-vacation frequency curtailed to once every two to three years.
2. Cut: A planned purchase of a new $25,000 pontoon boat.
Substitution: We waited for off-season sales on eBay and found a used boat in January for $4,000, in pristine condition.
3. Cut: New cars, to be replaced every five years at a minimum. ($30,000 average price)
Substitution: We’re running the old cars into the ground until we can’t drive them anymore! Repairs are nominal compared to monthly payments. We’ll buy used cars when ready.
4. Cut: Weekly restaurant dinners, averaging $75 for two with drinks and dessert.
Substitution: We grill at home now. Restaurant dates are once every six weeks.
5. Cut: Movies, now at $17 for two tickets.
Substitution: A Netflix subscription, for $5 per month and unlimited rentals.
6. Cut: Frequent trips to book stores, averaging $50 for new books and magazines each visit.
Substitution: The public library. We visit weekly and have also discovered other programs for families (family movie night, for example), free DVD rentals and even magazines.
7. Cut: Regular trips to Best Buy for $50 video games.
Substitution: A second-hand video gaming store at the mall offers the same games for a fraction of the price. When we decide to try a new game, we receive money for one that we no longer play and buy a used game to take its place.
8. Cut: Weekly trips to liquor store, averaging $75 each. Regular visits to Starbucks, $4.50 each.
Substitution: Occasional bottle of wine, $7-$9. Cutback in drinking reduces need to buy as much! Starbucks has been replaced with store-bought coffee, combined with flavored syrups and whipped cream.
9. Cut: Monthly clothing purchases from catalogues, averaging $200 to $300 minimum.
Substitution: Except for our child, who grows out of his clothing, we have cut this expense completely. We wait for off-season sales to purchase items at 60 to 80 percent off. We also combine our better-clothing items with cheaply-purchased items from discount stores like Wal-Mart … combining the two camouflages the less-costly item.
10. Cut: Gourmet impulse purchases in grocery deli.
Substitution: Online recipes for similar products allow us to make many of the same items for much less. The result is a healthier alternative (because we know the ingredients) and also more enjoyment in the finished product. We occasionally splurge on a longed-for item, but these are now “treats” rather than regular purchases.
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Heidi Rafferty is a freelance writer and blogger. You can find her work at Kingdom Treasures and The Objective Journalist.
Please tell me this is satire.
Hi Molly,
Heidi Rafferty here. I wrote the column.
No, actually it wasn’t a satire.
I am ashamed to admit that this is what we really spent a year ago.
The reason we started cutting back was not because of the economy but because we felt very convicted about our level of selfishness. We started giving back in order to give more to our church, which is experiencing unparelleled growth and needed funds to accommodate the number of people wanting to hear about God. I didn’t include this tidbit in the column, because I cover it in detail in my own blog,”Kingdom Treasures,” at http://heidirafferty.blogspot.com.
I hope you’ll be able to see, however, that even though income levels vary — and spending varies among couples and families — people can apply the same principles and look at the areas that are unneeded.
I hope I did not offend you with the blog entry. I think that if you read some of my own blog entries, which I have been keeping since this journey began this time last year, you’ll see the huge change that has occurred in my heart and mind. Only God brought this about.
Thanks so much for your comment, and I hope to see you at “Kingdom Treasures.”
Best wishes,
Heidi Rafferty
Harrodsburg, KY USA
Is there a money diet for normal people with average income?
I didn’t even make $25,000 last year, let alone enough to even consider a $25k purchase. But I’m still on a money diet and have been able to cut my spending tremendously. Look for the opportunities – paying cash at the grocery store will make you think twice about what you put in your cart.
I thought the same thing as poster #1, even though I was pretty sure the author was serious. I felt REALLY poor after reading all things she cut.
Maybe I AM really poor! Anyways, at least she was brave enough to post it. I just have nothing left to cut, except maybe the newspaper subscription.